I have seen two reviews now that reference political themes in the Division 2. I feel like these are being written by political bros who saw something popular come out that is set in DC and want the game to be political. They do not seem like normal game reviewers who noticed political themes in a game. The articles feel like hack jobs. I don't see any other games politics being picked apart like TD2 (bunch of Call of Duty games have tons of political commentary of fictional regimes and nobody bats an eyelash). Is it because the game is set in a real place? I don't see why these guys glommed on to TD2.
Everything has to have a message and if it doesn't then the message you are sending is that you don't care about the important messages
pyromaniac221this just might bean interestin YTRegistered Userregular
A game released in 2019 drenched in military and survivalist aesthetics, taking place in the American capital, portraying several symbols and monuments of the country’s history in the context of society’s collapse and rebuilding, and directing the player to violently acquire scarce resources from one ad hoc community to give to another with the implication that second has the more legitimate claim to being truly American was never going to be released without at least SOME critics examining it through a political lens, and not should it have.
I’m enjoying the game as a mechanical exercise and can do so while acknowledging that there are stances being taken and views being expressed, however thinly explored, that may be troublesome.
If anything, I’m fascinated that the developers thought that making a game of this nature apolitical was not only a desirable goal but a FEASIBLE one. They really did their best to pare back basically every narrative element outside of the structural premise and didn’t even get close.
Eh you're not exactly taking resources from like the campus to give to the theater. The hyenas, true sons, and outcasts are all pretty shit awful people. Lead either by facism, anarchism, or religious fantasicm and a goal of revenge at all costs.
That variety review reads like someone who watched a trailer, watched a couple hours of gameplay and then busted out the old thinking machine. Like the repeated attempts to tie the game to tucker carlson is laughable and the author does not do a good job justifying the stance.
Of course you use guns to kill enemies, its a third person looter shooter game? Like its not a pro gun stance, its a modern video game third person shooter stance?
Preacher on
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I mean it's political in the same sense that GI JOE is political.
I will say though that the Variety review (which is the only "omg the politics!" review I've seen so far) is one of the worst video game reviews I've ever seen and is more a rant against Tucker Carlson and the "beer swilling White-Cis-Male losers who are playing The Division 2" than the actual game.
. . .I now count the hours until I can get back home, grab a PBR and play. Not white though so. . .
I mean it's political in the same sense that GI JOE is political.
I will say though that the Variety review (which is the only "omg the politics!" review I've seen so far) is one of the worst video game reviews I've ever seen and is more a rant against Tucker Carlson and the "beer swilling White-Cis-Male losers who are playing The Division 2" than the actual game.
. . .I now count the hours until I can get back home, grab a PBR and play. Not white though so. . .
Look as a white american...
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I have seen two reviews now that reference political themes in the Division 2. I feel like these are being written by political bros who saw something popular come out that is set in DC and want the game to be political. They do not seem like normal game reviewers who noticed political themes in a game. The articles feel like hack jobs. I don't see any other games politics being picked apart like TD2 (bunch of Call of Duty games have tons of political commentary of fictional regimes and nobody bats an eyelash). Is it because the game is set in a real place? I don't see why these guys glommed on to TD2.
I wouldn't say it's only a Div2 issue. Think back to Far Cry 5 and the critical response to that game when it came out. It had a similar thing of having a very specific cultural/political premise that was very relevant to the current political climate in the United States. The issue there most had though was that, despite Ubisoft's messaging before the game's release, many people felt they pulled all their punches in the game's story itself, and they were rightfully hammered for it critically. Here it's almost the opposite problem, where Ubisoft is downplaying the political themes, despite them being impossible to avoid.
It would have been an easy fix in FC5, all they had to do was just lean into that stuff as hard as possible and not shy away from it. "Religious Cults and crazy militias are dumb, fuck those guys!" would have been a perfectly fine theme, but instead it came off as this weird message that maybe the cult wasn't so wrong after all. Critics had a huge problem with that, and rightly so, but it wasn't an unavoidable issue.
The Division 2 is in a strange spot though. The political implications are there whether intended or not, and there's no way to get away from them without completely changing how the game works mechanically. So for me at least, I don't know what to actually do about it other than straight up ignore that aspect. But I don't blame people for calling it out.
I mean it's political in the same sense that GI JOE is political.
I will say though that the Variety review (which is the only "omg the politics!" review I've seen so far) is one of the worst video game reviews I've ever seen and is more a rant against Tucker Carlson and the "beer swilling White-Cis-Male losers who are playing The Division 2" than the actual game.
. . .I now count the hours until I can get back home, grab a PBR and play. Not white though so. . .
Out of curiosity, I just read through it. I wish I could have that 5 minutes of my life back (it would spare me the eyestrain of having rolled my eyes as hard as I did).
And, if we're listing our demographic group, I'm a Chinese-American (still Cis-Male) pineapple cider swilling guy playing Division 2 (as a Korean woman with a purple ponytail) while listening to Crypt of the Necrodancer or watching MLP (either the show or one of EG movies) on my second monitor.
Erlkönig on
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
0
Big DookieSmells great!Houston, TXRegistered Userregular
Eh you're not exactly taking resources from like the campus to give to the theater. The hyenas, true sons, and outcasts are all pretty shit awful people. Lead either by facism, anarchism, or religious fantasicm and a goal of revenge at all costs.
That variety review reads like someone who watched a trailer, watched a couple hours of gameplay and then busted out the old thinking machine. Like the repeated attempts to tie the game to tucker carlson is laughable and the author does not do a good job justifying the stance.
Of course you use guns to kill enemies, its a third person looter shooter game? Like its not a pro gun stance, its a modern video game third person shooter stance?
I'd say the issue is more that, if this were a "real world" situation (I know, but let's just suspend disbelief here for a sec), the different bad-guy factions wouldn't really be that way. The game's message is pretty clearly that good guys with guns = good, bad guys with guns = bad, therefore good guys with guns should murder all bad guys with guns. To make that work in game, they make hyenas and true sons and stuff laughably, mustache-twirlingly evil, because that's the only way to justify the message. But if this were really happening, it wouldn't be that simple.
I mean really for me it's whatever. The game does what it does, and it's fun as fuck, and the political stuff doesn't bother me much because like I said I can just ignore it. But I do get the criticism at least on some level.
Really difficult to take any "review" of a thing serious when they start speaking in/breaking down tropes. About as grating as that ole "HEY HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO SEE A CRATE" joke that was somehow converted into a serious "metric" or whatever. But I digress.
That entire view is an exercise in disingenuous presentation...
"“Division 2” is the worst of ‘stand your ground’ laws and ‘good guy with a gun’ beliefs. Enemies wander the streets, guns outstretched sideways as they blindly fire like Hollywood’s abysmal thug stereotypes. There’s no narrative context for their actions, or why all of them willingly die for their cause – or what their cause actually is. They just hate innocents. That makes them easy villains to conservative eyes. They’re bad guys, the lot of them, and that’s all anyone needs to know. “The Division 2” may as well be Carlson’s primetime lead."
This is false.
Hyenas are organized gangs. They say as much in game, without digging through collectibles.
The True Sons are deserters. They say as much in game, without digging through collectibles.
The Outcasts are people that feel they were betrayed by the government. They say as much in game, without digging through collectibles.
What enemies even fire their guns sideways in this game? I vaguely remember the Rioters maybe doing this in the Division 1? Maybe some of the Hyenas do?
Never mind the concept remains absurd. The fantasy is that America is overturned by capitalist desires (a flu strain coated money at Christmas, ruined the holiday, and it’s time to fight to bring capitalism back), becoming this bizarre concoction of fantasy tropes and national reclamation.
More ignorance on display. The game's triggering event occurs on Black Friday. You don't need to celebrate Christmas to engage in Black Friday shenanigans. Money is an easy way to spread disease... why so many people were using cash to make purchases in 2015... well, IDK. It's a game.
The Division agents are unquestionably psychopaths and/or fanatical nationalists... even the game points this out. It's a decidedly gray organization. But really, this "review" is less about the game and more "Tucker Carlson is trending because of the dumb stuff he was actually punished for saying this time around and so is topical and I feel like talking about that but damn, I have to write a review about this game."
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
The thing is though the political message what little there is in division 2 is not a right wing one like that click bait variety article would have you believe. Like 3 of the 4 factions are very much right wing analogues (fuck sake the true sons all look like skin heads even if their leader is a black guy). The mission you are tasked with in the barely there story is to rebuild washington dc and help the people fighting to just live regular lives. I mean you rebuild settlements, save people from the various horrible fates the factions have in store for them and try and basically put things back together.
But that variety article is just click bait, as insulting to fans of a game as it is lacking in actual critical analysis, might as well be written by Armond White.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Eh you're not exactly taking resources from like the campus to give to the theater. The hyenas, true sons, and outcasts are all pretty shit awful people. Lead either by facism, anarchism, or religious fantasicm and a goal of revenge at all costs.
That variety review reads like someone who watched a trailer, watched a couple hours of gameplay and then busted out the old thinking machine. Like the repeated attempts to tie the game to tucker carlson is laughable and the author does not do a good job justifying the stance.
Of course you use guns to kill enemies, its a third person looter shooter game? Like its not a pro gun stance, its a modern video game third person shooter stance?
I'd say the issue is more that, if this were a "real world" situation (I know, but let's just suspend disbelief here for a sec), the different bad-guy factions wouldn't really be that way. The game's message is pretty clearly that good guys with guns = good, bad guys with guns = bad, therefore good guys with guns should murder all bad guys with guns. To make that work in game, they make hyenas and true sons and stuff laughably, mustache-twirlingly evil, because that's the only way to justify the message. But if this were really happening, it wouldn't be that simple.
I mean really for me it's whatever. The game does what it does, and it's fun as fuck, and the political stuff doesn't bother me much because like I said I can just ignore it. But I do get the criticism at least on some level.
And, if this were a real-world situation, there would be no more people named Alex anywhere in the States. Also, wearing a hoodie would be signing your own death warrant (especially if the hood was red).
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
I mean I legitimately do not get what is political about this game. Maybe I'm just dense. It's set in DC, has military types and involves a way obvious so is it even a spoiler corrupt politician. However, like I mentioned above, it's not in the "thought provoking" sense. . .it's in the GI JOE, or Fast & The Furious or Big Tent Movie Event sense.
. . .the Variety piece moans about the "guns, guns, guns!" as if the game is meant to glorify and/or appeal to the rabid 2nd Amendment types, seemingly oblivious that this is made, I believe, a Swedish company and published by a French one. Like sometimes a shoot-em-up is really a shoot-em-up.
Eh you're not exactly taking resources from like the campus to give to the theater. The hyenas, true sons, and outcasts are all pretty shit awful people. Lead either by facism, anarchism, or religious fantasicm and a goal of revenge at all costs.
That variety review reads like someone who watched a trailer, watched a couple hours of gameplay and then busted out the old thinking machine. Like the repeated attempts to tie the game to tucker carlson is laughable and the author does not do a good job justifying the stance.
Of course you use guns to kill enemies, its a third person looter shooter game? Like its not a pro gun stance, its a modern video game third person shooter stance?
I'd say the issue is more that, if this were a "real world" situation (I know, but let's just suspend disbelief here for a sec), the different bad-guy factions wouldn't really be that way. The game's message is pretty clearly that good guys with guns = good, bad guys with guns = bad, therefore good guys with guns should murder all bad guys with guns. To make that work in game, they make hyenas and true sons and stuff laughably, mustache-twirlingly evil, because that's the only way to justify the message. But if this were really happening, it wouldn't be that simple.
I mean really for me it's whatever. The game does what it does, and it's fun as fuck, and the political stuff doesn't bother me much because like I said I can just ignore it. But I do get the criticism at least on some level.
I dunno man recent events have shown to me that people would really be like the hyenas, true sons and even outcasts. That despite what we like to believe in our hearts, morality as a whole is not a personal thing, but a society enforced thing, and we are closer to the depressing universe of the Walking Dead Murder Murder Murder way of life than we like to believe.
Also its a video game designed around third person shooting lots of enemies, like this kind of hot Taek was around with the Division 1, I feel they tried to address it in the division 2 only for people to dust off the same click bait complaint and here it is again.
Like the opening video gets sited for the "did you have a gun? Did your neighbor? Some of us survived" Its not an endorsement of gun ownership in my view, its highlighting that people who wanted to take things took things using what they had available and only some people survived.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
It’s pale even in the standards of video game logic. Consider the idea of applying gameplay tropes familiar to sword-and-sorcery or sci-fi epics to what’s branded as a real world, near future story. Here, guns deal damage points. A holster can deflect X amount of said damage. A better holster, more deflected damage. One headshot deals 100 points, another 500. Of course, different enemies were born with thicker skulls, so they can withstand 500-plus points. This isn’t the context for those gameplay traits, but a bigger gun deals bigger numbers logic, thus the need to hunt for new weapons.
The War on Game Mechanics rages on.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
There's one mission where you have to go inside a hyena stronghold and get some fertilizer and the radio voice is all "because they're using it for explosives and not growing plants!"
And then it does look like maybe they have some explosive production in part of the building, but they're also totally growing food in there and you just murder everyone and are all "Welp, we did it!" and that felt pretty weird.
I find it more comical than upsetting, but the idea that you can make a piece of media/art these days and not have it viewed with a political lens seems naive at best.
It’s pale even in the standards of video game logic. Consider the idea of applying gameplay tropes familiar to sword-and-sorcery or sci-fi epics to what’s branded as a real world, near future story. Here, guns deal damage points. A holster can deflect X amount of said damage. A better holster, more deflected damage. One headshot deals 100 points, another 500. Of course, different enemies were born with thicker skulls, so they can withstand 500-plus points. This isn’t the context for those gameplay traits, but a bigger gun deals bigger numbers logic, thus the need to hunt for new weapons.
The War on Game Mechanics rages on.
I will agree that part was pretty dumb.
Generally though yeah, we don't have to spend that much time on it. I think I mostly just needed my daily affirmation of "Fuck Tucker Carlson", because even if the author of the piece was grasping at straws with those comparisons, I will still support anything that advances that message.
What enemies even fire their guns sideways in this game?
Not to keep on the rail or anything, but a not insignificant number of hyena mooks do this. I actually commented about it in VOIP the first night I was playing with some friends. They hold their gun in one hand, held at face level, sideways. It's straight "thug bad guy" from [pick from endless selection of movies here].
What enemies even fire their guns sideways in this game?
Not to keep on the rail or anything, but a not insignificant number of hyena mooks do this. I actually commented about it in VOIP the first night I was playing with some friends. They hold their gun in one hand, held at face level, sideways. It's straight "thug bad guy" from [pick from endless selection of movies here].
What enemies even fire their guns sideways in this game?
Not to keep on the rail or anything, but a not insignificant number of hyena mooks do this. I actually commented about it in VOIP the first night I was playing with some friends. They hold their gun in one hand, held at face level, sideways. It's straight "thug bad guy" from [pick from endless selection of movies here].
Fucking hyenas. I almost think they are some of the worst enemies in the game as far as challenging enemies to fight. Like their rushers are the most dangerous up close because at challenging level they one shot you with one melee. The rest of their units are similar to the true sons, but then they have those god damn rc car fucks too.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
side mission, I left the mission building, stood on the top of the stairs leading to the building, and fired my AK wildly in the air in celebration.
It was totally random, just sweeping from right to left at an arbitrarily picked elevation. After the second shot, I saw a bird fall dead right next to me. Now, since Division 1, I take great pains to avoid killing the wildlife...so this dead bird kinda hit me hard. Just goes to show: be mindful of your weapon discharges, even if you're *just* shooting randomly in the air.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
What enemies even fire their guns sideways in this game?
Not to keep on the rail or anything, but a not insignificant number of hyena mooks do this. I actually commented about it in VOIP the first night I was playing with some friends. They hold their gun in one hand, held at face level, sideways. It's straight "thug bad guy" from [pick from endless selection of movies here].
What enemies even fire their guns sideways in this game?
Not to keep on the rail or anything, but a not insignificant number of hyena mooks do this. I actually commented about it in VOIP the first night I was playing with some friends. They hold their gun in one hand, held at face level, sideways. It's straight "thug bad guy" from [pick from endless selection of movies here].
. . .and are still crack fucking shots.
There had to be some reason the faction composed of former JTF/Military cannot crush the organized gang faction.
Black lives matter.
Law and Order ≠ Justice
ACNH Island Isla Cero: DA-3082-2045-4142
Captain of the SES Comptroller of the State
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-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
Today’s comics post has a great way of explaining the way enemy armour and health works in regards to spongeyness.
Once you’ve broken through big armor, there’s typically a visual cue coupled with the fact that they just… melt, after that. You know how when you’re installing something on iOS and you’re staring at the bar and staring at the bar until it get close to the end and then finishes super fast? It’s like that.
What enemies even fire their guns sideways in this game?
Not to keep on the rail or anything, but a not insignificant number of hyena mooks do this. I actually commented about it in VOIP the first night I was playing with some friends. They hold their gun in one hand, held at face level, sideways. It's straight "thug bad guy" from [pick from endless selection of movies here].
What enemies even fire their guns sideways in this game?
Not to keep on the rail or anything, but a not insignificant number of hyena mooks do this. I actually commented about it in VOIP the first night I was playing with some friends. They hold their gun in one hand, held at face level, sideways. It's straight "thug bad guy" from [pick from endless selection of movies here].
. . .and are still crack fucking shots.
There had to be some reason the faction composed of former JTF/Military cannot crush the organized gang faction.
Uhh there kind of is a reason for that...
Storyline spoilers for post level 30...
Black tusk were supplying the Hyenas with weapons, and we can probably assume logistics and such. The idea being they wanted the three factions to fuck each other up until the tusk could come in and wipe them all out when they are weakened.
Also update on that mysterious faction we've discussed prior, they have a logo when you haven't engaged them/they aren't ambusing you, looks like two hand cuffs linked together.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
side mission, I left the mission building, stood on the top of the stairs leading to the building, and fired my AK wildly in the air in celebration.
It was totally random, just sweeping from right to left at an arbitrarily picked elevation. After the second shot, I saw a bird fall dead right next to me. Now, since Division 1, I take great pains to avoid killing the wildlife...so this dead bird kinda hit me hard. Just goes to show: be mindful of your weapon discharges, even if you're *just* shooting randomly in the air.
That bald eagle survived the Green Poison and DC-52... but not you.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
+1
pyromaniac221this just might bean interestin YTRegistered Userregular
The True Sons prone machinegunners are the bane of my existence. Tiny profile, plenty of armor, high volume of fire, always situated in the back so they’re tough to flank.
What enemies even fire their guns sideways in this game?
Not to keep on the rail or anything, but a not insignificant number of hyena mooks do this. I actually commented about it in VOIP the first night I was playing with some friends. They hold their gun in one hand, held at face level, sideways. It's straight "thug bad guy" from [pick from endless selection of movies here].
What enemies even fire their guns sideways in this game?
Not to keep on the rail or anything, but a not insignificant number of hyena mooks do this. I actually commented about it in VOIP the first night I was playing with some friends. They hold their gun in one hand, held at face level, sideways. It's straight "thug bad guy" from [pick from endless selection of movies here].
. . .and are still crack fucking shots.
There had to be some reason the faction composed of former JTF/Military cannot crush the organized gang faction.
Uhh there kind of is a reason for that...
Storyline spoilers for post level 30...
Black tusk were supplying the Hyenas with weapons, and we can probably assume logistics and such. The idea being they wanted the three factions to fuck each other up until the tusk could come in and wipe them all out when they are weakened.
Also update on that mysterious faction we've discussed prior, they have a logo when you haven't engaged them/they aren't ambusing you, looks like two hand cuffs linked together.
If that's the case, I've been killing a whole lot of them.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
0
Big DookieSmells great!Houston, TXRegistered Userregular
I also ran into my first suicide bomber guy last night, which scared the shit out of me. They make a nice pulpy mess when they explode though.
I have seen two reviews now that reference political themes in the Division 2. I feel like these are being written by political bros who saw something popular come out that is set in DC and want the game to be political. They do not seem like normal game reviewers who noticed political themes in a game. The articles feel like hack jobs. I don't see any other games politics being picked apart like TD2 (bunch of Call of Duty games have tons of political commentary of fictional regimes and nobody bats an eyelash). Is it because the game is set in a real place? I don't see why these guys glommed on to TD2.
I agree that parts of that review are really stupid...but there are definitely a lot of other games reviews that comment on the political nature of their underlying themes. Waypoint does a lot of these types of reviews for example. Also MW1/MW2 definitely got flak for being dumb celebrations of war though maybe not immediately in reviews at the time. To me, TD's approach to politics is pretty barebones and only intended to get you to have a motivation to shoot mans, and luckily it is a game that makes that part feel pretty good (especially now that my drone doesn't automatically disappear!).
Also from what it appears in the game Ridgeway is just a shit leader. Like he's scary and authoritative, but the True Sons are not really that well organized.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
pyromaniac221this just might bean interestin YTRegistered Userregular
Also, I finally popped into one of those underground areas yesterday. It was so small that I thought it would just be a resource cache rather than a combat zone, and I was a little startled when a guy wandered up the stairs and took some potshots at me.
I killed him and my minimap flared up in red so I figured they might have been guarding something good, decided to explore downstairs a bit, heard these heavy, plodding footsteps and the buzz of what sounded like an idling chainsaw and got the fuck out of there.
Also, I finally popped into one of those underground areas yesterday. It was so small that I thought it would just be a resource cache rather than a combat zone, and I was a little startled when a guy wandered up the stairs and took some potshots at me.
I killed him and my minimap flared up in red so I figured they might have been guarding something good, decided to explore downstairs a bit, heard these heavy, plodding footsteps and the buzz of what sounded like an idling chainsaw and got the fuck out of there.
Some of them are populated. Not like the subways from TD1 though, which is a shame.
. . .the underground at the Lincoln Memorial though is a gold-mine of keys and loot and is worth exploring.
"Get the hell out of me" - [ex]girlfriend
+1
cptruggedI think it has something to do with free will.Registered Userregular
That article is definitely hyperbolic click bait. But there is definitely a nuanced discussion that could come from taking a look at a game plastered with "TOM CLANCY!", set in the political seat of the nation, and have opening lines like "Did you have gun? Did your neighbor?". Is the game secretly laying down heavy shit like Spec Ops: The Line? Oh god no. But to try and pass it off as if it's exempt of any political commentary is simply not true either. But ain't no one want to have a nuanced and thoughtful discussion on this. It's easier just to take some low hanging fruit and throw it at the wall.
side mission, I left the mission building, stood on the top of the stairs leading to the building, and fired my AK wildly in the air in celebration.
It was totally random, just sweeping from right to left at an arbitrarily picked elevation. After the second shot, I saw a bird fall dead right next to me. Now, since Division 1, I take great pains to avoid killing the wildlife...so this dead bird kinda hit me hard. Just goes to show: be mindful of your weapon discharges, even if you're *just* shooting randomly in the air.
That bald eagle survived the Green Poison and DC-52... but not you.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
My two biggest complaints are being unable to pet dogs (one just sat shivering with his tale between his legs, staring at me. Never ran. I assume it was glitched) and unable to harvest deer I shoot for food for control points, Oregon Trail style.
Like...c'mon, low hanging fruit.
XBL: Bizazedo
PSN: Bizazedo
CFN: Bizazedo (I don't think I suck, add me).
side mission, I left the mission building, stood on the top of the stairs leading to the building, and fired my AK wildly in the air in celebration.
It was totally random, just sweeping from right to left at an arbitrarily picked elevation. After the second shot, I saw a bird fall dead right next to me. Now, since Division 1, I take great pains to avoid killing the wildlife...so this dead bird kinda hit me hard. Just goes to show: be mindful of your weapon discharges, even if you're *just* shooting randomly in the air.
That bald eagle survived the Green Poison and DC-52... but not you.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
My two biggest complaints are being unable to pet dogs (one just sat shivering with his tale between his legs, staring at me. Never ran. I assume it was glitched) and unable to harvest deer I shoot for food for control points, Oregon Trail style.
Like...c'mon, low hanging fruit.
Like I said way back last week (or might've been during the open beta), my biggest complaint (at that time) was being unable to release the dogs from the Grand Washington Hotel.
Then comes not being able to pet the doggos.
And not being able to tame and recuit a raccoon and fox army.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
Posts
Everything has to have a message and if it doesn't then the message you are sending is that you don't care about the important messages
/s
Wud yoo laek to lern aboot meatz? Look here!
I’m enjoying the game as a mechanical exercise and can do so while acknowledging that there are stances being taken and views being expressed, however thinly explored, that may be troublesome.
If anything, I’m fascinated that the developers thought that making a game of this nature apolitical was not only a desirable goal but a FEASIBLE one. They really did their best to pare back basically every narrative element outside of the structural premise and didn’t even get close.
That variety review reads like someone who watched a trailer, watched a couple hours of gameplay and then busted out the old thinking machine. Like the repeated attempts to tie the game to tucker carlson is laughable and the author does not do a good job justifying the stance.
Of course you use guns to kill enemies, its a third person looter shooter game? Like its not a pro gun stance, its a modern video game third person shooter stance?
pleasepaypreacher.net
I will say though that the Variety review (which is the only "omg the politics!" review I've seen so far) is one of the worst video game reviews I've ever seen and is more a rant against Tucker Carlson and the "beer swilling White-Cis-Male losers who are playing The Division 2" than the actual game.
. . .I now count the hours until I can get back home, grab a PBR and play. Not white though so. . .
Look as a white american...
pleasepaypreacher.net
I wouldn't say it's only a Div2 issue. Think back to Far Cry 5 and the critical response to that game when it came out. It had a similar thing of having a very specific cultural/political premise that was very relevant to the current political climate in the United States. The issue there most had though was that, despite Ubisoft's messaging before the game's release, many people felt they pulled all their punches in the game's story itself, and they were rightfully hammered for it critically. Here it's almost the opposite problem, where Ubisoft is downplaying the political themes, despite them being impossible to avoid.
It would have been an easy fix in FC5, all they had to do was just lean into that stuff as hard as possible and not shy away from it. "Religious Cults and crazy militias are dumb, fuck those guys!" would have been a perfectly fine theme, but instead it came off as this weird message that maybe the cult wasn't so wrong after all. Critics had a huge problem with that, and rightly so, but it wasn't an unavoidable issue.
The Division 2 is in a strange spot though. The political implications are there whether intended or not, and there's no way to get away from them without completely changing how the game works mechanically. So for me at least, I don't know what to actually do about it other than straight up ignore that aspect. But I don't blame people for calling it out.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
Out of curiosity, I just read through it. I wish I could have that 5 minutes of my life back (it would spare me the eyestrain of having rolled my eyes as hard as I did).
And, if we're listing our demographic group, I'm a Chinese-American (still Cis-Male) pineapple cider swilling guy playing Division 2 (as a Korean woman with a purple ponytail) while listening to Crypt of the Necrodancer or watching MLP (either the show or one of EG movies) on my second monitor.
I'd say the issue is more that, if this were a "real world" situation (I know, but let's just suspend disbelief here for a sec), the different bad-guy factions wouldn't really be that way. The game's message is pretty clearly that good guys with guns = good, bad guys with guns = bad, therefore good guys with guns should murder all bad guys with guns. To make that work in game, they make hyenas and true sons and stuff laughably, mustache-twirlingly evil, because that's the only way to justify the message. But if this were really happening, it wouldn't be that simple.
I mean really for me it's whatever. The game does what it does, and it's fun as fuck, and the political stuff doesn't bother me much because like I said I can just ignore it. But I do get the criticism at least on some level.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
That entire view is an exercise in disingenuous presentation...
This is false.
Hyenas are organized gangs. They say as much in game, without digging through collectibles.
The True Sons are deserters. They say as much in game, without digging through collectibles.
The Outcasts are people that feel they were betrayed by the government. They say as much in game, without digging through collectibles.
What enemies even fire their guns sideways in this game? I vaguely remember the Rioters maybe doing this in the Division 1? Maybe some of the Hyenas do?
More ignorance on display. The game's triggering event occurs on Black Friday. You don't need to celebrate Christmas to engage in Black Friday shenanigans. Money is an easy way to spread disease... why so many people were using cash to make purchases in 2015... well, IDK. It's a game.
Also, the collapse is based off the real world simulation: Operation Dark Winter.
The Division agents are unquestionably psychopaths and/or fanatical nationalists... even the game points this out. It's a decidedly gray organization. But really, this "review" is less about the game and more "Tucker Carlson is trending because of the dumb stuff he was actually punished for saying this time around and so is topical and I feel like talking about that but damn, I have to write a review about this game."
But that variety article is just click bait, as insulting to fans of a game as it is lacking in actual critical analysis, might as well be written by Armond White.
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And, if this were a real-world situation, there would be no more people named Alex anywhere in the States. Also, wearing a hoodie would be signing your own death warrant (especially if the hood was red).
. . .the Variety piece moans about the "guns, guns, guns!" as if the game is meant to glorify and/or appeal to the rabid 2nd Amendment types, seemingly oblivious that this is made, I believe, a Swedish company and published by a French one. Like sometimes a shoot-em-up is really a shoot-em-up.
I dunno man recent events have shown to me that people would really be like the hyenas, true sons and even outcasts. That despite what we like to believe in our hearts, morality as a whole is not a personal thing, but a society enforced thing, and we are closer to the depressing universe of the Walking Dead Murder Murder Murder way of life than we like to believe.
Also its a video game designed around third person shooting lots of enemies, like this kind of hot Taek was around with the Division 1, I feel they tried to address it in the division 2 only for people to dust off the same click bait complaint and here it is again.
Like the opening video gets sited for the "did you have a gun? Did your neighbor? Some of us survived" Its not an endorsement of gun ownership in my view, its highlighting that people who wanted to take things took things using what they had available and only some people survived.
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The War on Game Mechanics rages on.
And then it does look like maybe they have some explosive production in part of the building, but they're also totally growing food in there and you just murder everyone and are all "Welp, we did it!" and that felt pretty weird.
I find it more comical than upsetting, but the idea that you can make a piece of media/art these days and not have it viewed with a political lens seems naive at best.
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PSN: Bizazedo
CFN: Bizazedo (I don't think I suck, add me).
I will agree that part was pretty dumb.
Generally though yeah, we don't have to spend that much time on it. I think I mostly just needed my daily affirmation of "Fuck Tucker Carlson", because even if the author of the piece was grasping at straws with those comparisons, I will still support anything that advances that message.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
Not to keep on the rail or anything, but a not insignificant number of hyena mooks do this. I actually commented about it in VOIP the first night I was playing with some friends. They hold their gun in one hand, held at face level, sideways. It's straight "thug bad guy" from [pick from endless selection of movies here].
. . .and are still crack fucking shots.
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side mission, I left the mission building, stood on the top of the stairs leading to the building, and fired my AK wildly in the air in celebration.
It was totally random, just sweeping from right to left at an arbitrarily picked elevation. After the second shot, I saw a bird fall dead right next to me. Now, since Division 1, I take great pains to avoid killing the wildlife...so this dead bird kinda hit me hard. Just goes to show: be mindful of your weapon discharges, even if you're *just* shooting randomly in the air.
There had to be some reason the faction composed of former JTF/Military cannot crush the organized gang faction.
Law and Order ≠ Justice
ACNH Island Isla Cero: DA-3082-2045-4142
Captain of the SES Comptroller of the State
Uhh there kind of is a reason for that...
Storyline spoilers for post level 30...
Black tusk were supplying the Hyenas with weapons, and we can probably assume logistics and such. The idea being they wanted the three factions to fuck each other up until the tusk could come in and wipe them all out when they are weakened.
Also update on that mysterious faction we've discussed prior, they have a logo when you haven't engaged them/they aren't ambusing you, looks like two hand cuffs linked together.
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That bald eagle survived the Green Poison and DC-52... but not you.
If that's the case, I've been killing a whole lot of them.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
I agree that parts of that review are really stupid...but there are definitely a lot of other games reviews that comment on the political nature of their underlying themes. Waypoint does a lot of these types of reviews for example. Also MW1/MW2 definitely got flak for being dumb celebrations of war though maybe not immediately in reviews at the time. To me, TD's approach to politics is pretty barebones and only intended to get you to have a motivation to shoot mans, and luckily it is a game that makes that part feel pretty good (especially now that my drone doesn't automatically disappear!).
Steam: CavilatRest
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I killed him and my minimap flared up in red so I figured they might have been guarding something good, decided to explore downstairs a bit, heard these heavy, plodding footsteps and the buzz of what sounded like an idling chainsaw and got the fuck out of there.
Some of them are populated. Not like the subways from TD1 though, which is a shame.
. . .the underground at the Lincoln Memorial though is a gold-mine of keys and loot and is worth exploring.
Like...c'mon, low hanging fruit.
PSN: Bizazedo
CFN: Bizazedo (I don't think I suck, add me).
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Like I said way back last week (or might've been during the open beta), my biggest complaint (at that time) was being unable to release the dogs from the Grand Washington Hotel.
Then comes not being able to pet the doggos.
And not being able to tame and recuit a raccoon and fox army.